author tags

Anchors, commentators, and even sociologists all agree on one thing: fake news is a growing phenomenon, and one with real-world consequences. In the span of a few months, it’s gone from being an obscure topic to one that Facebook and the other leading social media platforms have promised to fight directly.

The discussion about fake news is currently focusing on the social side of things. However, we expect it will have huge repercussions in the area of search engine optimization in the near future. After all, Google could be considered the world’s biggest library and news outlet all in one. Plus, the company’s directors have prioritized author tags, authority indicators, and topical relevance in past search algorithm updates.

It’s not a big reach, then, to expect fake news will change the art of search engine optimization forever. Below, we are going to make three predictions. They certainly aren’t ironclad now, but do represent rational outcomes that would follow the trends we are seeing now. Let’s take each of the three, one by one…